What You Can Expect After Undergoing The Atrial Maze Procedure
Maze surgery is performed in order to resolve a condition known as atrial fibrillation (or, Afib). The disorder is characterized by an irregular sinus rhythm that causes your right and left atria (upper chambers of your heart) to fibrillate. Instead of traveling from the sinus node to the atrioventricular node, the electrical impulses produced by the sinus node take a side route. In doing so, they cause your heart to beat in an irregular pattern.
The atrial Maze procedure is done to eliminate all but a single route along which the electrical impulses can travel. A surgeon will make a series of incisions into your atria and sew them back together. The resulting scar tissue does not conduct electricity and therefore, forces the impulses to move along a defined path. The path appears similar to a maze.
This type of surgery can be accomplished by opening the patient’s chest and cutting through his sternum to access the heart. It can also be performed through minimally invasive techniques. In this article, we’ll describe the postoperative recovery you can expect in both cases.
Postoperative Recovery In The Hospital
Following an open chest operation, you’ll likely be placed into ICU for a few days. That way, the hospital staff can monitor the electrical activity of your heart and quickly identify any problems that develop. The nurses and doctors will also encourage you to begin moving as soon as possible; they’ll ask you to start walking within one or two days after the operation. The reason is to reduce the likelihood of blood clots forming.
In some cases, the surgical team may also connect an external pacemaker to your heart through the incisions in your chest. The pacemaker can trigger a heartbeat in the event your sinus node is unable to do so on its own.
Within ten days, you’ll be released from the hospital.
If your surgeon has performed minimally invasive atrial Maze surgery, you’ll still be placed into ICU, but only for a day. In fact, depending on your heart’s progress, you may only need to stay in ICU for a few hours. You’ll likely be released within three or four days.
Recovery At Home
Postoperative recovery after your chest has been opened will take approximately eight weeks to complete. During that time, you may need to take a blood thinner in order to prevent clotting. You can also expect to feel some degree of pain throughout your chest, though it will slowly subside. Within three months, you’ll be able to resume your normal level of physical activity.
Following minimally invasive Afib surgery, you’ll be able to return to your workplace in as little as one week. While the time required to make a complete recovery depends largely on the patient, it will be far shorter than would be experienced after undergoing open chest surgery.
As the technology becomes more advanced, and surgeons perfect their skill in performing the minimally invasive atrial Maze procedure, postoperative recovery will become virtually trouble-free.
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